6 area schools make state wrestling playoffs

Tuesday

Feb 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM

After his wrestling team went 0-5 in the Havelock duals to drop below .500 earlier this month, Northside coach Jeff Cobb figured it was time to focus on preparing his guys for the individual 2-A regionals.

Rick Scoppe-Sports Editor/The Daily News

After his wrestling team went 0-5 in the Havelock duals to drop below .500 earlier this month, Northside coach Jeff Cobb figured it was time to focus on preparing his guys for the individual 2-A regionals.

With no dual matches left for the Monarchs to improve their record, Cobb didn’t expect a 14-15 record would be good enough to make the 2-A dual team championships, especially when three East Central Conference teams were already shoo-ins.

“We just didn’t think there’d be a chance,” Cobb said before practice Monday. “But, hey, here we are.”

Here the Monarchs are indeed.

Northside was among six of the area’s 10 wrestling teams to make the NCHSAA 3-A, 2-A, 1-A dual team playoffs announced Monday — and the Monarchs certainly were the biggest surprise of the lot.

“That’s what I thought (after the Havelock duals), there’s no way we make it,” Northside senior 182-pounder Louis Grayson said. “But we did. It’s good.”

The other area teams to make the playoffs were Jacksonville in 3-A, Croatan and Swansboro in 2-A and Southwest and Dixon in 1-A. All six teams are on the road for tonight’s action, which will feature the first two rounds (see accompanying graphic below for the complete team pairings).

In the 1-A class, the East Regional final will be Thursday, while in the 3-A and 2-A, another two-match night will be on tap for the right to go to the state finals, which for all classifications will be Saturday.

While Cobb and the Monarchs were surprised they made the playoffs, Croatan coach David Perry was not — at least not after he went home after the Cougars won their 14th straight ECC tournament title Saturday and looked at the playoff possibilities.

“I looked at it and I thought they were definitely in,” Perry said. “I didn’t see any way they couldn’t get in.”

And while his Cougars will be making their 14th playoff trip in the school’s 15-year existence — Croatan won the state title in 2010 and 2011 while finishing second last year — Perry was pleased for the ECC that half its eight teams made the playoffs.

“The conference has gotten a heck of a lot better from the days when we used to just go out and the scores were 70-6 and 63-12,” he said. “Four or five or six years we didn’t have a close match ever (in the conference). Now the matches are closer, and the individual matches are closer. It’s lot different than it used to be. I think the conference has gotten a lot better.”

Cobb agreed, although he said there were two ways of looking at Northside making the postseason.

“It either says one or two things, either our conference is good or wrestling as a whole in 2-A isn’t that good. I’d like to think it’s the first. But we’ve worked hard and we’ve done well as far as making it,” he said. “We’re going to pull some miracles to make a run (in the playoffs).”

At Corinth Holders High in Wendell, Northside will take on the Durham School of the Arts (18-4), with the winner facing the survivor between Swansboro (21-11) and Corinth Holders (33-4) in the second round.

While happy to be in the playoffs, Cobb was also realistic. He knows the Monarchs face a tough road ahead, especially having to forfeit three weight classes (108, 126 and 132, the latter two because of injuries).

“There’s some mixed emotions. We know we don’t have a state championship team, but we enjoy being in the playoffs,” he said. “We’ve got an average team. We’ve taken it on the chin in some dual meets.

“But … there’s 90-some-odd high schools in North Carolina that are 2-A, so you’ve got to figure you’re in the top part of it. I’d like to have a stronger team going in. Like I said, we’re kind of depleted in some areas.”

Senior Matt Lafferty, who wrestles at 145, shared both Cobb’s surprise as well as some of his mixed feelings heading into the playoffs.

“I was kind of not expecting that,” Lafferty said as he laced up his shoes before practice in the high school’s cafeteria. “But I guess I’m excited that we’re able to go into the playoffs with a wildcard because sometimes those wildcards can do pretty good things.”

Whatever happens, both Lafferty and Grayson agreed match action instead of a just a week of practice should help them better prepare for the individual regionals, which begin next week across the state.

“It helps because you get match time, and that really helps,” Lafferty said. “You definitely grow as a wrestler when you’re actually out there wrestling.”